News Parents of boy feared fed to pigs both charged with first-degree murder

KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) -
Michael and Heather Jones, the father and stepmother of a young boy who is believed to have been missing for months and is presumed dead, have both been charged with first-degree felony murder.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Chris Schneider announced the charges Friday.

Jones, 29, now faces the murder charge as well as a child abuse charge in connection with 7-year-old Adrian Jones.

She is in the Wyandotte County Jail in lieu of a $5 million bond.

The district attorney also amended the charges against Michael Jones, 44, to now include murder. He was previously charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery against his wife and child abuse charges against his son, Adrian, sometime between May 1 and Sept. 28.. His bond was set at $10 million.

The felony murder charge essentially accuses both in the death of Adrian, not as a planned or premeditated murder, but as the result of committing another crime, like child abuse. Specifically charging documents say by "committing, attempting to commit or fleeing from the felony of child abuse."

Heather Jones was arrested Thursday then held on 48-hour investigative hold for murder and child abuse charges. She was booked into jail on a bench warrant for a Walmart theft under $1,000. Prosecutors had until Saturday morning to formally charge her with the crimes.

Her arrest came two weeks after her husband was arrested.

Police came to the couple's Piper home in the 5200 block of N. 99th Street on Nov. 25 on a report of Michael Jones attacking his wife and firing a gun at her. As the investigation progressed, someone told them to check for Adrian's decomposed body. By the next day, they were searching a barn on the property where they discovered human remains.

Adrian allegedly went missing towards the end of September and no one ever reported his disappearance.

Investigators fear Adrian was fed to pigs on the family's property after being beaten to death. The DA's office said the charges of murder do not necessarily mean the remains have been identified, but a medical examiner says the bones are that of a child.

Since then, people who claim to know the couple have been coming out of the woodwork, standing up for or pointing fingers at one or both of them.

Heather Jones will make her first court appearance on these charges Monday.

it's a really sad, dark world when parents can beat their child to death. that's the worst part..... the part where the poor child felt pain, the physical pain and the ultimate sense of betrayal by being abused by a parent.